Napster Calls MusicNet Monopolistic; Judge Agrees

MattW writes "Yahoo is carrying an article from the AP about a development in ongoing Napster litigation. Several major labels and RealNetworks formed MusicNet. Napster complained about an anti-competitive clause in the contract they signed with MusicNet, and Marilyn Hall Patel, best known to this community for her stern condemnation of Napster, agreed, stating that MusicNet had all the hallmarks of an anticompetitive business. The article goes on to state that, "If the recording industry was found to have misused its copyrighted material, it might not be able to successfully pursue an infringement claim on those works.""

Comments

"misuse claim"

[fishbowl]

"If the recording industry was found to have
misused its copyright material, it might not be able to successfully pursue an infringement claim on those works. If the recording industry was found to have misused its copyright material, it might not be able to successfully pursue an infringement claim on those works."

I have two problems with that sentence.
First, it is purely editorial, and
not derived from the facts of the story. Judge
Patel did not say anything so strong.

Secondly, it bothers me that the subjunctive case
has nearly been lost in the English language, even
among journalists. That sentence should start
"If the recording industry were found..."

As it is written, it has a possibly different meaning than the writer intended. Forgetting how
and when to use the subjunctive limits the range
of verbal expression when a distinction is needed
between events that have happened in the past and
hypothetical events.